THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 21, 1995 TAG: 9511210269
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
A peanut company that includes Charlottesville billionaire John W. Kluge has bought Pond Brothers Peanut Co. of Suffolk for nearly $2.3 million.
The transaction, which was finalized late last week, is the latest in a string of acquisitions of peanut processing and packaging plants by Morven Partners LP, a general limited partnership based in Edenton, N.C.
Morven has no immediate plans to change the operation of the Suffolk processing plant, which has been in business for nearly a century, said Morven president Robert Thomas. The County Street complex will be called ``Original Nut House Brands, Pond Brothers.''
``It's business as usual for this year,'' Thomas said Monday.
Pond Brothers' top executives - President Richard L. Pond Jr. and Vice President Jeffrey G. Pond - were at the plant this week, but Thomas would not confirm whether they would remain with the company. Neither Pond could be reached Monday for comment.
Court records listed the purchase at $2,289,400.
The Pond family has owned the company since 1915, when Richard L. Pond Jr.'s grandfather and great-uncle bought Pope Peanuts from relatives who had operated it since the turn of the century.
The peanut processor employs more than 100 people during the harvest season. The company sells to manufacturers, who turn the peanuts into roasted ball-park peanuts, peanut butter, cocktail peanuts, candies and other peanut delicacies.
Morven partners, including Kluge, control at least 23 operations in 10 states, Thomas said. The partnership, which was formed Dec. 31, 1993, has purchased well-established, old-line businesses, he said. Kluge, regarded as the nation's richest individual in 1989, made his money with media holdings including cellular telephones and Multimedia Co.
Other Morven divisions include Jimbo's Jumbo's in Edenton and Hancock Peanut Co. in Courtland. The company also owns roasting and packaging plants in Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and other businesses in Kentucky, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Connecticut.
The diversified company handles pecans and cashews as well as peanuts.
Hal Burns, Morven's vice president, said the company had no immediate plans to purchase other peanut companies.
The sale comes during turbulent times for the peanut industry, as companies across the nation have cut back or closed.
Locally, Parker Peanut Co. closed its 62-year-old operation this fall. Virginia Peanut Processors also closed. Planters Co., Suffolk's second largest employer, twice closed for a week because of low demand.
And in Franklin, the Virginia-Carolina Peanut Farmers Co-operative Association filed for protection under federal bankruptcy laws. The co-operative is not buying peanuts but is leasing its storage space for farmer stock peanuts to Hancock. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
John W. Kluge
by CNB